Aster
Feminine · “star”
Aster is given to both — 752 girls and 356 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Aster is the Greek for a star, and the flower is named for its shape — a ring of narrow petals around a bright center, which is what a child draws when you ask for a star. The word is one of the oldest in the language.
How old is the name Aster?
Aster first appears in US birth records in 1916 — 109 years ago. The typical Aster is a kid of about 6 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Aster are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Aster most popular?
Aster peaked in 2022, reaching #2463 nationally. Today it ranks #2933, 470 places below that high. See the whole 2022 chart.
Where it comes from
From aster to Aster
The story of Aster
The aster is a late-season flower, blooming when most others have finished, and it is native to both Europe and North America — the American species are the ones in most gardens. Naming it for a star was a botanist's decision rather than a folk one. As a given name Aster is recent and belongs to the current group of plant names — Aster, Juniper, Wren, Clover — used for daughters. There is also a separate Ethiopian and Eritrean name Aster, which is the Amharic form of Esther and is entirely unrelated.
Meaning
star
Greek aster, 'star', from an Indo-European root that also gives Latin stella and English star itself. It stands behind astronomy, asteroid, asterisk — a little star — and disaster, which is literally an ill star. The flower took the name in the eighteenth century for its radiating petals. The reading is exact and undisputed.
How the name formed
- aster
- Aster
Related forms: Ἀστήρ · Aster · Astra
Pronouncing Aster
ASS-ter
Two syllables, stress on the first. The Amharic Aster is said ah-STAIR, with the stress at the end, which is a noticeably different name at the same spelling.
Nicknames for Aster
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1916
- Most girls named
- 202273 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2463reached in 2022
- Change vs 2024
- −9.5%57 in 2025, from 63
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Aster in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ἀστήρ in Greek — transliteration
- Aster in Amharic — related form
- Astra in Latin — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Washington, Texas.
Asters among us
people named Aster are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 28,198 born in 2025 was named Aster
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Orianna test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Aster's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Orianna climbed just as high around 1911, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Orianna's path sketches the road Aster is walking now.
Aster sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Aster is headed
Aster should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Aster beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Aster in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- An exact and lovely meaning, with a visible reason behind the flower's name.
- Five letters, entirely phonetic, and said correctly by everyone at first sight.
- Sits in an established group of botanical names, so it never sounds isolated.
- It is very close to the English word aster and to Astor, which is a surname.
- The Amharic name at the same spelling is said quite differently, which comes up in Ethiopian communities.
- Plant names date visibly to the period that made them fashionable.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Aster
Feminine · #2933 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Asters are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Aster are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Aster in 2025?
- Aster ranks #2933 among US girl names in 2025, with 57 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Aster?
- About 1 in every 28,198 US girls born in 2025 was named Aster — 57 in all.
- Will my child share the name Aster with classmates?
- Aster will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Aster
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Taylynn#2933 · Tali#2933 · Ivori#2933 · Layah#2933 · Jailyne#2933 · Azlynn#2933 · Blima#2933 · Melisa#2933
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Aster? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Aster and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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